I've been fed a steady diet of work computers for a long time now and really want to do something about the lack of processing power I have at home.
I'm not a PC gamer for the most part.
Main interests would be:
- video ripping
- burning backups for the kids to use in the car
- video streaming (introductory step to the HTPC world)
I thought about the HTPC route, but I'd rather have a multi-purpose system for surfing and a few applications I'll use on occasion for some of my hobbies. Since my existing home computers are pretty old this will have to be a completely new system. I doubt I need a dedicated graphics board and I'm not interested in spending a lot of time overclocking and tweaking.
What kinds of components will have the most impact on ripping and burning?
Would the i5 2500 based systems I keep reading about be overkill? What do I give up with an i3 based system?
I'd like to keep the budget around $500 without OS or display and I think that puts an i5 system out of reach. I think I can build an i3 540 system for around $500.
I'm not a PC gamer for the most part.
Main interests would be:
- video ripping
- burning backups for the kids to use in the car
- video streaming (introductory step to the HTPC world)
I thought about the HTPC route, but I'd rather have a multi-purpose system for surfing and a few applications I'll use on occasion for some of my hobbies. Since my existing home computers are pretty old this will have to be a completely new system. I doubt I need a dedicated graphics board and I'm not interested in spending a lot of time overclocking and tweaking.
What kinds of components will have the most impact on ripping and burning?
Would the i5 2500 based systems I keep reading about be overkill? What do I give up with an i3 based system?
I'd like to keep the budget around $500 without OS or display and I think that puts an i5 system out of reach. I think I can build an i3 540 system for around $500.